Verification of lumbosacral segments on MR images: identification of transitional vertebrae.

To accurately identify lumbosacral transitional vertebrae and disease location, cervicothoracic sagittal scout images were obtained in addition to the standard images used in magnetic resonance imaging studies of the lumbar spine, and vertebrae were counted down from C-2 rather than up from L-5. In 200 patients, these techniques revealed 24 transitional vertebrae (15 cases of sacralization of L-5 and nine cases of lumbarization of S-1).